Day 2 for Healthcare.gov and servers still overwhelmed

It’s Oct. 2, and I still haven’t encountered anyone who has successfully created an account and shopped for insurance at Healthcare.gov.

Have you? If so, we want to hear from you.

Most people are getting hung up at the point where they are asked to select a security question from a drop-down menu. The menus appear to be blank.

An official with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said this morning that it was high volume to the site — not a software glitch — that was causing that system hang.

Contrary to some suppositions, agency spokesman Fabien Levy said there are people successfully creating accounts, and soon there will be many more.

“Volume at HealthCare.gov continues to be high, with 4.7 million unique visits in the first 24 hours, our call center receiving more than 190,000 calls, and more than 104,000 web chats requested. We expect to see similar volume as yesterday, and while this overwhelming interest is continuing to cause wait times , there will be continuing improvements in the coming hours and days.”

The agency had this advice for people hoping to create accounts and shop for insurance:

• When you go to HealthCare.gov, you may see a “holding page” for a few minutes before you enter the application process. If you’re at the holding page, do not refresh your browser or leave the page, as you’ll lose your place in line.
• You have until December 15 to sign up before coverage begins January 1, and 180 days left before the end of open enrollment.

The agency says that wait times for phone consultations are growing shorter. The number is 1-800-318-2596. If you’ve tried calling, let us know your experience.

Last night I attended a health care town hall at Gaines Park in West Palm Beach. There, state Rep. Bobby Powell had hoped that many of the 60 attendees would be able to meet with “navigators” trained to assist people in using the marketplaces and select a plan. But even the three navigators there weren’t able to create accounts. They took down names and numbers and said they’d help people as soon as the exchanges were working.

Patrick Franklin, president and CEO of the Urban League of Palm Beach County, told people to keep trying and not get discouraged. There are an estimated 50 million people without health insurance in the United States.

“This isn’t going to happen in a day. This isn’t going to happen in one day, two days, three days. You need to take time to understand and learn. Then you need to go out and touch somebody else.”